


Damp Kindling

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human/Troll Society, Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Developing Relationship, M/M, human genitalia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 16:13:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5792170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eridan receives an unexpected message from an old friend, and after a camping trip decides to pursue a relationship with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Satisfying Change of Pace and Face

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I really have no idea how this is going to turn out, and I really don't have any solid plan for it as of right now, but I do know that I'll be writing a few chapters at the very least to test the waters, see what kind of feedback I get, flex my writing skills, that sort of thing. I'm setting this in a situation where SBURB never happened and trolls live in the same society with humans, societies relatively integrated. This is because I'm a lazy fuck who can't be bothered to write anything more complex than that. I also always have a burning desire for anything involving Equius and Eridan, so I figured that this would be a relatively decent way to alleviate my perpetual thirst for the ship. 
> 
> Depending on the response I get to the first chapter of this, I'll judge how much more in depth I want to write, so make sure to leave feedback!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eridan finds a nice way to get away from the life he finds to be so boring in an old friend.

You awaken late in the afternoon, bleary eyes slowly scanning your poster ridden bedroom. Thin beams of sunlight sift through the slats of your blinds, dimly illuminating the piles of dirty laundry and unkempt possessions on your floor. You bring your hands to your eyes, rubbing the last few particles of sleep from them. You place your heavy eyeglasses on your face, pushing them up your nose with a slender finger. You sit up, stretching out your back and neck, then cracking your knuckles, right hand then left. You sigh in relief, slowly rising from your place of slumber, and slowly shuffle through the clothes littering your carpet and to your desk. You open your laptop, blinking at the bright glow of the screen, and you’re greeted with several flashing notifications from various applications on your taskbar. You’re uninterested in them. None of them seem exciting or important in the least. You delete emails without reading them, leave chats read but unreplied, not even paying regard to other notices.

You haven’t felt particularly piqued by anything recently. You’re trapped in the relentless doldrums of Winter, the dull gray atmosphere persistent for months and seeping into your psyche as you long for nothing but sleep. You hated it. Winter was cold, boring, long, and inconvenient to you, a disgusting combination that the mere thought of made you grimace. With a scowl of distaste on your lips, you shut your laptop and slowly rise, once again shuffling through piles of clothes to make your way to the kitchen.

Lazily tossing a few frozen waffles in the toaster, you hike yourself onto the counter. To your left resides the sink, which you turn on to a slight dribble. You dampen your hands and run them through your thick hair, attempting to tame the nest on your head at least mildly. You hear the toaster ding, and retrieve your waffles after drying your hands on your tee shirt. Placing them on a paper towel, you lazily stumble into your small living room, switching on the television as you slump onto your couch. You sprawl onto it, trying to get into a comfortable position. You listen to a droning weatherman relay to you that the weather would not soon improve, much to your expectant dismay. The scowl from before has not left your tired face.

You soon grow bored and unsatisfied with anything your home aside your bedroom has to offer, and you soon return to your messy desk and reopen your computer. Unsurprised by the abundance of new notifications, you begin to unhurriedly respond to some of them. Most are from friends saying good afternoon post seeing your online status, but you don’t feel up to speaking with anyone. You’d much rather continue to sulk in your cluttered room. You set your status to ‘Invisible’ on most of your outlets, then stretch once more over the back of your desk chair. 

Your daily life has pretty much boiled down to this repetitive process, and has been in such a state for the last month. Something in the back of your mind tells you that you need a bit of change, something out of the ordinary to happen, anything at all. Sighing, you look at your computer once more, and notice a small circle flashing in the corner of your email program. You figure you’d check it out, possibly finding the change of pace you’ve been longing for. You’re surprised to see an old acquaintance messaging you.

 

You read over the rather lengthy message. Though it’s almost reminiscent of something an annoying relative would send you, it’s strangely comforting, and you’re glad to be interacting with someone new for a change.

 

“Greetings, Ampora. It’s been quite a number of years since we’ve last spoken. I’m sorry to intrude on your busy schedule, but you’ve been in my thoughts recently and I thought that I would send you a message. How have you been? I await your response with eager anticipation. In the meantime, I might as well explain the main purpose of my electronic correspondence. 

 

I’ve been planning a camping trip for quite some time now, and though I generally have a multitude of friends to join me in such adventures, this time I seem to have come up short. Therefore, I must expand my search elsewhere to find a companion for my trip, and though we haven’t spoken in quite some time, I would like to extend my offer to go camping to you. If you would, kindly respond to my message as soon as possible with details of the recent happenings of your life as well as whether or not you can or would like to accompany me on my trip. Have a nice day, friend.”

 

You look at the signature at the bottom of the email once more. The short line of text brings you back, seeing the silly symbol your acquaintance still places at the beginning of his name.

 

‘D --> EQUIUS ZAHHAK’

 

You smirk a bit, savoring the fact that someone you knew so long ago hadn’t seemed to change much. You eagerly type out a reply to the email, explaining your boring life and constant longing for something to do and agreeing to go on the camping trip, and click send.

Though it wouldn’t normally cater to you, going camping with your old pal seems like the perfect escape from your usual routine. Once again you rise from your chair, exhausted from the sudden burst of social interaction, and decide to take a nap, placing your glasses on a side table and quickly succumbing to slumber.


	2. Wake Up Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eridan realizes that his camping trip with Equius is less than two days away, and scrambles to get ready after receiving an unexpected phone call from him new companion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I guess this is going to happen now. Don't get meta with it, just let it happen because I don't want to explain implications. They scare me. Just pretend it makes sense.
> 
> I also plan to write a bit more in depth with longer chapters after this one, so I'm not really sure about when I'll be updating as of right now. 
> 
> Anyway. Enjoy Chapter Two.

Your phone buzzes on the cluttered nightstand next to you, breaking you from your nap. After an exaggerated groan, you make a groggy effort to pick the phone up, and you knock a box of tissues and a clock off of the nightstand. You frown. The bright screen in your hand hurts your eyes, but you manage to brave the pain and adjust enough to see the name on the screen. Equius is calling you.

You blink, wondering what he could be calling about so soon after your earlier conversation. Staring at it, you allow your phone to vibrate for another moment before you answer the call. Your initial greeting comes out a bit harsher than you would have preferred, but nonetheless it notifies Equius of your post-nap fatigue and crankiness.

“Hello, yes? What, what is it?” you rush. You hear your voice hiss, your terse tone reverbating slightly.

“Oh, my. I seem to have caught you at a less than convenient time, yes? Shall I expect a call back at a time more suitable time for you?”

You listen to the familiarly deep and husky voice, and you sigh. Your body slumps forward, eyes closed and phone lazily cocked askew against your temple. 

“Ughh, sorry for such a discourteous greetin’. Speakin’ to me right after wakin’ me up tends to elicit that kinda response from me.” Your voice drawls in your sleepy state, and you slur your words a bit, but not unintelligibly. 

“Understandable. Regardless, I apologize for waking you, but I was extremely excited when I read your reply, and I found myself unable to convey just how ecstatic I am about our upcoming trip with mere text, which prompted me to call you.”

He doesn’t sound excited. You cock an eyebrow as the corners of your lips pull into a confused scowl, but you suppose that his dry and monotonous tone has a slight twinge of desperation that isn’t present in his usual dry monotony. You listen to him ramble, contemplating telling him to call you back due to your inability to retain information in your current jumbled state of mind, but instead you lay back down, getting comfortable for whatever length of conversation you and Equius end up having. 

“You certainly sound excited, Eq,” you lie, your scowl dissolving, slowly replaced by an amused smirk as his voice sinks in. It feels almost nostalgic, talking to him again after so long.

“So what exactly are we doin’? Your email explained jack shit about where we’re goin’ or how long we’re goin’ or when we’re goin’ or anythin’. Give me the fuckin’ details!” You know you’re rambling at this point and that you sound like a cranky toddler, but you want information.

Equius clears his throat. “There’s a beautiful campground about two hours West of my home, and it’s fairly out of the way, so not many other campers will be there. We’ll leave on Thursday, and we’ll stay for three days. I have plenty of activities and excitement planned for this, so I hope you’re as enthused as I am,” Equius explains, giving a slight chuckle when he finishes.

You evaluate what he says to you. Damn, he’s long winded. Three days seems like a reasonable amount of time for camping, and it doesn’t seem like too far of a drive. You wonder how far away Equius lives from you now, concluding that he couldn’t be too far if he’s inviting you on a camping trip. You disregard any further thought on the matter for the moment, tuning back in to Equius.

You think for a moment before responding. Camping isn’t particularly your forte, but you do like to spend some time outdoors. The deal was particularly sweetened as you spoke to your old friend. 

“Sounds wonderful, Eq. I’m excited to go,” you croon. 

“Anyway, Ampora, I should be going. I have some business to attend to this evening before I head off to sleep. Take care, and I’ll see you on Thursday.”

He hangs up the phone, and in your sudden daze listen to the post-call whir for a moment before setting your phone down. You blink for a moment, Equius’ voice still whispering through your mind, reverberating through your skull. 

Wait, did he say this Thursday?

You look at the tattered calendar hanging on your wall, confirming your fears. It was already Tuesday evening, leaving you just over a day to get ready. You begin to panic, jumping out of bed. You scramble around your dirty room, picking up some clothes and tossing them in a duffle bag. What do you even bring camping? You hadn’t been in so long, so you didn’t have any experience in the activity other than the very few times you had gone in your former years. You can barely recall those memories, let alone the tiny details of what you took. 

Stuffing more into the duffel bag and zipping it quickly, you toss it onto your bed. Shit, you have no idea what you’re doing. Should you call Equius?

You don’t even have to give that a second thought. You pick up your phone once again and call back the most recent number. It rings several times, and to your relief, Equius picks up. You sigh, and he greets you.

“Hello again, friend. Is there a problem?”

“Yeah, I seem to be havin’ a bit of trouble with packing. Do you think you could lend me a hand? I’m really strugglin’.”

“Oh my, that certainly does sound like a predicament. Collect your things and head my way. I’ll send you my address forthwith.”

You’re relieved that Equius is so hospitable. You thank him sincerely, listening to his instructions on what to bring over, and find yourself grinning as the call ends. You collect your things quickly and make your way to your car. After punching in the address on your GPS, you pull onto the road, your grin undying as you speed into the crisp winter evening in anticipation of seeing your friend.


End file.
